Category: Sixers/NBA

ATLANTA — Paul George has been a bigger asset for the 76ers than folks envisioned at the beginning of the season.

His defense and ability to assert himself when needed have made up for subpar shooting. He’s also been a great leader. At the same time, the 6-foot-8 forward is fully aware that the Sixers are Tyrese Maxey’s team, and he’s OK with it.

The 35-year-old, who’s in his 16th NBA season, is determined to do whatever he can to support Maxey, who’s 10 years his junior, along with all of his teammates.

George’s No. 1 priority is helping his fourth-place squad ascend the Eastern Conference standings.

He’s sure to play a significant role in Sunday’s 6 p.m. game against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. A victory would give the Sixers (14-10) five wins in six games since suffering a 142-134 double-overtime loss to the Hawks (14-12) on Nov. 30 at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Yet, George comes with a lofty price tag, making $51.6 million this season. He’s scheduled to make $54.1 million next season. And at the age of 37, he’ll have a player option for $56.5 million for the 2027-28 campaign.

This type of contract is often reserved for foundational franchise players who are expected to dominate the league. It’s typically viewed as a bad investment for an aging and often-injured player who’s no longer the focal point.

That’s why the Sixers may have a decision to make ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.

Do they try to part ways with the nine-time All-Star as a way to free up cap space?

Or do they keep the older star, hoping that his leadership and ability to adapt will help them contend for a title?

Here’s the dilemma: Even though George’s contract is a cap-space killer, the Sixers need his adaptability, selflessness, and leadership more than people want to admit.

“He’s showing he’s a guy who can score and create his own shot — both from two and three,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Again, if he’s going to sneak in a few drives, which he had late [vs. the Indiana Pacers on Friday], it’s just going to make it all the tougher, if he can score on all three levels.”

With Maxey sidelined by illness, George assumed the role of point forward in the 115-105 home victory. He finished with season highs of 23 points and five assists, while logging a season-long 33 minutes, 7 seconds. This was just his ninth game after missing 14 with left knee injury management and another with a sprained right ankle.

“I thought he did a good job of just, again, settling things down,” Nurse said. “You know, he’s an experienced player. He’s got the ball in his hands, and, again, it comes down to making the right read. If there’s nothing there, you’ve got to go to work and score a big bucket.

“He looked pretty good.”

George has looked pretty good more often than not when available this season.

But critics will point out that his field-goal percentage (41.8%) and three-point percentage (34.9%) were the second lowest of his career before Friday’s game. They’ll also mention that George’s updated scoring average of 15.1 is the fourth-lowest of his career.

But his performance against the Pacers (6-19) marked the third time he’s scored at least 20 points this season. He shot 8 of 17, including 4 of 7 three-pointers, which could be something to build on.

And if we’re sincere, George doesn’t need to carry that scoring load with Maxey being third in the league in scoring at 31.5 points per game.

George’s job is to make things easier for the explosive point guard, who’s an early-season MVP candidate. He knows that assignment changes game to game depending on what the team needs.

But he’s been most impactful running the Sixers’ offense in the half-court and providing solid defense.

Yet, George has proved that, when needed, he’s capable of providing a scoring spark.

He finished with 21 points, five rebounds, and two steals while playing 24:42 in the Sixers’ 123-114 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 20 at Fiserv Forum. His performance came one day after sitting out his team’s 121-112 home loss to the Toronto Raptors due to not playing on back-to-back nights.

Against the Bucks, he scored the Sixers’ first 11 points while making his first four shots. George scored the game’s first basket by driving through the lane and muscling his way to score. Then he added three-pointers on the Sixers’ next three possessions.

“That was kind of the mindset,” George said following that game. “I know these guys played last night. So I’m fresh. I tried to come in, get the boost, just morale on both ends. I tried to impose my will on the defense, and then come out with a burst offensively.”

Maxey took over from there, finishing with a career-high 54 points and nine assists.

But the point guard had a quiet game in the Sixers’ second meeting against Milwaukee.

Maxey had a season-low 12 points on 5-for-14 shooting in his team’s 116-101 road victory over the Bucks on Dec. 5.

Stepping up, George hit several clutch shots en route to finishing with 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists.

With Milwaukee mounting a comeback, he hit two straight jumpers to give the Sixers a 101-87 cushion with 5:51 remaining. Then he grabbed a huge defensive rebound to ward off another comeback attempt with 2:52 left.

The California native took a lot of the pressure off Maxey by bringing the ball up the court and initiating the offense.

On Friday, George did one better while making sure things ran smoothly amid Maxey’s absence. That involved much more than his season-best individual performance. He was in constant communication with rookie guard VJ Edgecombe throughout the game.

“P helps me a lot,” Edgecombe said on Thursday. “That’s someone I have a good relationship with. So, he helps me a lot. Just telling me the little things. Just telling me the things he experienced as a rookie, but overall, we have a personal relationship outside of basketball. So, yeah, it’s good.”

When it comes to basketball, George wants Edgecombe to be himself regardless of the situation.

“That’s the main thing he’s been telling me,” Edgecombe said. “It doesn’t matter if he’s on the floor or [Joel Embiid’s] on the floor, Tyrese is on the floor, whoever’s on the floor, just be myself. He helps me with defensive tips. Just little things like that, anyway, I can get better.”

Critics have viewed George’s acquisition negatively because he has missed 56 games since the start of last season due to injuries. But he’s starting to make positive contributions.

And it is becoming evident that what he provides has been an asset to his mentees and to the team as a whole.

Will the Sixers be eager to replace that at the trade deadline if they’re still competitive?

Paul George is starting to live up to the hype.

Joel Embiid can still have lethal scoring nights.

VJ Edgecombe is back to playing at a high level. And he could do more if the 76ers keep him involved throughout.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 115-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

George shows his worth

George had to deal with the attention, scrutiny, and spotlight that came with signing a four-year, $211.5 million contract with the Sixers on July 6, 2024. He’s been mostly criticized over the past year while dealing with injuries and underperformances.

But the 6-foot-8 forward’s team-first mentality and ability to adapt to various roles have been on full display in the nine games he’s played this season. And with Tyrese Maxey sidelined with an illness, George excelled in the point-forward role against the Pacers (6-19).

He put his imprint on the game from the start, scoring the first two points of the night before assisting on the Sixers’ next two baskets.

The nine-time All-Star ended the quarter with eight points and two assists before finishing the game with 23 and five, respectively. George also had six rebounds and a steal and served as a solid two-way player.

“I’m comfortable with the ball,” George said. “I think more than anything, it’s just continue to prove to myself and remain confident as I continue to trust my body and gain confidence on the floor that my body can still produce. So it’s just adding to the confidence, and just chipping away at the work put into this season so far to get ready for this season.”

He missed 14 games this season with left knee injury management and sat out another game with a sprained right ankle.

On offense, the 35-year-old ran the team well, creating shots for himself and teammates against the Pacers. Defensively, George was active and made Indiana work hard for shots. He remained in constant communication with teammates on both sides of the ball.

These are the things the Sixers (14-10) envisioned when signing him to the maximum-salary contract to form a Big Three with Embiid and Maxey.

Embiid shines

This was Embiid’s best game of the season.

His 39 points were his highest regular-season total since he finished with a career-high 70 points against the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 22, 2024. Embiid also finished with nine rebounds and three assists.

The seven-time All-Star was asked if his performance proves “I still do this.”

“I don’t know,” said Embiid, who averaged a career-low 18.2 points in his first nine games. “That’s for those people that don’t think I can do it. I can’t change their mind or opinion.

“It feels good. Obviously, playing like that, I feel like I can do it.”

He thinks the dynamics are different, at times. Embiid said he wants to play more as a team. He said that includes making sure everybody is involved.

“If somebody has to sacrifice, I will,” he said. “But [on] some occasions, when I got it going, like tonight, it’s going to happen.

“I don’t expect having to do this when everybody is healthy. But I will, if I have to.”

Coach Nick Nurse thinks Embiid’s performance was as simple as finding an offensive rhythm.

“But he worked at it this week, a lot,” Nurse said. “I think the practices helped, his own individual work away from practice certainly helped, which is a great sign that he’s doing that and feeling good or better-ish to do some of that.”

After scoring just four points in the first quarter, he combined for 29 points over the second and third quarters.

For the game, he made 12 of 23 shots. His biggest basket came on a putback while being fouled with 2 minutes, 56 seconds remaining. He made the foul shot to give the Sixers a 108-102 lead.

The 7-foot-2, 280-pounder later grabbed a huge defensive rebound on Pascal Siakam’s missed layup with 1:57 left. That led to George’s layup, which made it 112-105 at the 1:41 mark.

The 2023 MVP made just 2 of 8 three-pointers, showing that he still needs to improve in that area. Embiid also needs to do a better job from the foul line, where he shot 13-for-18. But he did attack the basket more, which was part of a night where he moved better than in any game this season.

“Again, I keep saying he’s best when he’s driving,” Nurse said. “And I think he drove it a lot to draw the foul early. That puts them in a tough situation of how to play him. And probably the best thing about it all, I mean, 39 is great, but it came at a lot of different schemes they threw at him.”

This was an outstanding offensive performance, considering he was shooting career lows from the field (40.7%) and on three-pointers (21.4%) in the first nine games of the season.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was asked if he was surprised by Embiid’s productivity.

“Great player, perennial All-Star, on the Olympic team,” Carlisle said, “He’s a Hall of Fame guy. Who’s surprised? I’m not surprised.”

If he and George continue to play this way once Maxey returns, the fifth-place Sixers should ascend in the Eastern Conference standings.

Edgecombe must remain aggressive

At the start of the season, Edgecombe was the overwhelming favorite for rookie of the year. But a heavy workload, a tweaked role, and a left calf strain slowed him down a bit … until recently.

Now well-rested and healthy, Edgecombe is excelling once again. The 6-4 combo guard averaged 12.3 points on 44.8% shooting — making 6 of 12 three-pointers — in the three games heading into Friday’s contest. He followed that up with 22 points on 6-for-10 shooting, to go with four rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

Edgecombe scored 14 of his points on 5-for-6 shooting in the first quarter. However, he attempted only four shots afterward, making one to score eight points.

The third overall pick is playing well and showing that he can provide a key role. He just needs to remain in attack mode for four quarters. One can argue that his lack of aggressiveness stemmed from Embiid and George dominating the ball. However, he must stay involved.